Saturday, February 24, 2018

Ai Weiwei; by Kora Kwok

Ai Weiwei was
born in Beijing in 1957. He is a Chinese artist and activist, whose diverse
work includes sculptural installations, architecture, photography, and
filmography. Due to his criticism of the Chinese government and the subversive
nature of his art, Ai Weiwei has faced strong backlash from the Chinese
authorities.

Weiwei was
interested in art as a child, and enrolled at the Beijing Film Academy in 1978. However,
he felt restricted by his life in China, and moved to New York City in 1981,
where he spent the next 12 years. There, he attended Parsons School of Design and
became an active participant in the city’s subculture of artists and
intellectuals. Ai’s time in the States was extremely important towards his
personal development; it allowed him to live independently and liberally – as
he said himself, he “enjoyed spiritual freedom there” ("Andy Warhol, Ai Weiwei," 38).

Although Ai started
with painting, he began transitioning towards sculptural/physical installations
over the next few years; among his inspirations were the German sculptor Joseph
Beuys and French artist Marcel Duchamp.

When Ai returned
to China in 1993, China had become significantly more modernized. Inspired by
the relationship between China’s economic progress and the country’s cultural
roots, Ai created pieces that combined traditional aspects of China with modern
features – such as a coca cola logo painted onto a Han dynasty urn. In 1999, Ai
transitioned to architecture – founding a design firm FAKE geared towards
projects involving commonplace materials.

Coca Cola Vase (2011)
Medium: Acrylic on Han dynasty vase

Ai’s most famous
works involve large-scale installations with some form of message behind them,
often political. These installations typically involve large numbers of
everyday objects, assembled to form some larger structure. For example, after
the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, where thousands of children died due to poor
construction, Ai created Remembering
(2009) – a Munich installation where 9,000 backpacks were arranged to form
a quote from a victim’s mother. Another example is in 2016, when Ai put up
14,000 life jackets around the Konzerthaus Berlin concert hall to commemorate
the refugees of the Syrian Civil War.

I chose Ai
Weiwei because I respect his work and his mission. He once said in an interview
that anything with the power to change the world is art – and if that statement
is true, he is the epitome of an artist. Ai brings attention to important global
issues through his work, and I find that extremely admirable, especially given the oppression he faces in China for choosing to speak up.